Alpha Loft Spotlight: Sponsor and Lunch & Learn Host, Sheehan Phinney

Alpha Loft Spotlight: Sponsor and Lunch & Learn Host, Sheehan Phinney

Sheehan Phinney is a business law firm and has focuses in several industries including technology and start-ups. Many of our business, intellectual property, cyber-security and employment lawyers work regularly in these industries on matters specific to start up technology firms. This is why we feel so strongly about the importance of Alpha Loft and other incubators bringing entrepreneurs and valuable resources to the state of NH. Brian Thomas and Bill O’Sullivan are very active in this space and are looking forward to the sponsored lunch on Wednesday

Info on Bill O’Sullivan & Brian Thomas, the two speakers at the Lunch & Learn event:

Bill O’Sullivan

“I really enjoy being a patent lawyer. The work is challenging for sure but is always interesting and can be quite satisfying. I spend most of my working days helping my clients protect their inventions and otherwise navigate the world of patents. This work can require a great deal of creativity and a balancing of legal, technical, and business considerations to provide thoughtful, value-focused, and individualized service to each of my clients.

In my career, I have had the opportunity to work with clients of many different types — from Fortune 500 companies to solo inventors and everyone in between — but I have always had an affinity for working with startups and other early-stage businesses. I particularly enjoy the fast-paced, highly-innovative, demanding, and passionate environments that these types of companies tend to foster. I also enjoy working with the passionate people typically involved in these types of companies; their passion can be contagious. And of course I love to see them succeed and knowing that my efforts may have contributed to that success. The startups I’ve worked with have made their marks in a variety of industries including software and computer-based technologies, the financial services industry, the medical devices and treatment industry, the education industry, etc.

Speaking to you is a privilege that I don’t take lightly. I am very much looking forward to our dialog.”

Brian Thomas

“I am lucky – I genuinely enjoy my job. As an intellectual property and business attorney, I have the privilege of representing a wide variety of clients, ranging from multinational corporations to individuals, both domestic and international. My most rewarding work, however, is advising start-ups and other early-stage businesses on how to identify, protect and enforce the lifeblood of those organizations: intellectual property. Often this involves the “fun” aspect of intellectual property: guiding clients on adopting and registering trademarks. But it also includes guiding clients through challenging situations, such as the patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright disputes that often arise as a business scales. I also enjoy assisting with the many other critical issues faced by early-stage businesses, such as trade secret protection (including drafting non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements, enforcing restrictive covenants against exiting employees, and implementing organization-wide trade secret protection plans), drafting and negotiating intellectual property and license agreements, and website necessities such as website privacy policies and terms of use.

Before becoming an attorney, I worked for what was then a small, New Hampshire-based software company – and that experience gave me a unique insight into the realities of early-stage businesses, including the need to make strategic decisions on how best to utilize limited capital. Perhaps for that reason, I pride myself on offering clients practical, cost-effective legal advice. Advising a client on how best to protect its intellectual property is important, but that’s only half of the game. A good attorney also offers candid guidance on what steps a client must take immediately, what can wait, and how to achieve the necessary results with minimal cost. If I’m not thinking along those lines, I’m not doing my job.

I am also my firm’s associate hiring partner, meaning I am responsible for recruiting and hiring new attorneys. That role is a thrill for me, not only because I have an influence on who is selected to join our team, but also, I am able to put my energy into attracting to New Hampshire the young professionals that our state so desperately needs.”